


A Champion of Right

by orphan_account



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Adoption, Character Death, Crime, Family, Gen, Superheroes, Supervillains, Trans!Drake, Trans!Launchpad, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 05:37:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18910630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Drake follows a suspicious man entering a laboratory, he finds himself on the trail of Negaduck - whom he knew as Jim Starling, and whom he thought was dead. In addition to this, he now has to worry about the granddaughter of the inventor in the laboratory, a young gosling named Gosalyn Waddlemeyer.





	1. Chapter 1

Drake spots a caped figure heading into the back of a building, and he presumes it must be a supervillain. This isn’t the strangest assumption for a town like Duckburg, so he ducks into the nearest alleyway and changes into his Darkwing Duck outfit as quickly as possible.

(He makes sure to keep it on him at all times, in the event of a situation just like this, and after studying the old show in extreme detail, not to mention many hours on the stage in school plays, he found out a trick to change costumes in mere seconds.)

The back door is left slightly ajar, and Darkwing enters, figuring this doesn’t  _ technically _ count as breaking in since he’s on the trail of what could be a criminal. If not, he can just apologize later. Hopefully.

All the lights within the house are off, yet it’s obvious that the house is well-used, and poorly-cleaned. Darkwing passes through the living room and hesitates at the doorway.

It leads to a staircase, and the lights are on upstairs.

What propels him forward is the sound of someone crying out in fear. Darkwing sprints up the stairs and finds a laboratory, dimly lit and crowded with various inventions. In the corner of it is the same caped figure Darkwing saw enter the place— and he’s standing over an older duck, who cowers in terror.

“Weapons, Professor, what’s what I’m looking for,” the caped figure hisses out.

Something about him is familiar, but in a  _ wrong _ way. It’s like seeing a monstrous version of a friend in a nightmare.

Then it hits him like a comically placed piano. “Mr. Starling...”

Jim turns with a growl. He’s wearing a warped version of the old Darkwing Duck costume—different colors, tears in the hat and cape.

“You. What are _you_ doing here?”

Darkwing’s gaze slides towards the professor. It seems like he’s just a normal, middle-aged duck, understandably frightened by the scene before him.

“I’m here to stop you. Whatever you’re going to do...”

Jim shouts angrily and launches himself at Darkwing, who flinches and dodges away. Slamming on the ground, Jim skids into an invention that topples dangerously.

“Ha!” he shouts, leaping up and grabbing the thing. It looks like some sort of sci-fi ray.

“Not that!” the professor cries.

Jim fires. Darkwing hits the ground, and a bolt of light hits the wall.

Then it explodes.

Shielding his face, Darkwing turns his frightened gaze towards Jim, who lets out a maniacal cackle.

“This is a good one, Professor! I think I’ll take it with me, along with a few other  _ toys _ I like.”

“Mr. Starling, please! What do you need these—these weapons for?”

“Don’t call me Starling!”

The professor pulls Darkwing out of the way as Jim fires again.

“I...I...I am the  _ real _ Darkwing Duck. The  _ grim _ Darkwing Duck. I’m—I’m  _ Negaduck _ !”

He cackles and fires again, dangerously close. Darkwing feels the heat of the explosion.

“He’s going to cause the other ones to short-circuit,” the professor whispers, fraught with panic.

“And what exactly might that do?”

“Put simply, we wouldn’t make it out of this alive, in any capacity.”

“You get out of here. I’ll stop him.”

Another explosion sends them scrambling behind the nearest desk.

“No, I know how these inventions work,” the professor says. “I made them all, and I know how to stop them.”

“Then you go after this ray thing, and I’ll take Mr.—uh, you know.”

The professor nods.

Darkwing darts out from behind the desk and sprints towards Jim. The element of surprise is not on his side, but he’s nimble and able to dodge most of the blasts from the ray.

He’s worried about the professor, but he’s too focused on not dying himself to spend much time watching the other duck. So he decides that the professor must be okay and goes after Jim.

“Stop right there!”

“Let me guess, ‘suck gas, evildoer’?” Negaduck lowers the ray. “You don’t know the first thing about crime-fighting. You just watch a TV show, get picked for  _ my _ movie, and think you know everything, don’t you?”

“You’re not very heroic yourself. I thought you...” Changed? Learned your lesson? Well, and  _ died _ , too. So much for all those lengthy social media posts about Jim Starling’s death...

“You were entirely mistaken about me,” Negaduck responds, about to fire the ray again.

A net shoots forward and wraps around his midsection, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. Darkwing darts forward to catch the ray.

“I guess it’s good I made that,” the professor murmurs, as he puts away the gun that fired the net in the first place.

“I feel like I should apologize for him breaking into your house like this,” Darkwing says. “Uh, is there anything I could do to help?”

“Just get him out of here. I’ll call the police.”

Negaduck scrambles to get out of the net, but that only causes it to tangle around him even more.

“Stop it, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

He knocks into a particularly large invention, which topples over. Darkwing tugs Negaduck out of the way before the device can hit the ground. It shatters and bursts into flames.

Negaduck slips out of the net at last. “Ah-ha!”

He is shoved aside by the professor, who cries out, “Get out of here! Almost everything in the lab is  _ highly flammable _ !”

Darkwing panics. He grabs the arm of the professor and runs out with him while trying to catch up with Negaduck. He can’t watch this guy get blown up  _ again _ .

An explosion sends him flying into the wall of the staircase. He hits it and falls down onto the stairs. He can’t hear anything other than ringing, and the smoke causes tears to prick his eyes.

A burst of purple-red smoke signifies Negaduck’s disappearance (he’s gotten better at his exits, he seems), so Darkwing focuses his attention on the professor, who lies unconscious amid the rubble of the lab.

“Gosalyn,” he whispers.

“Who’s that? Your wife? Your kid? Is she here?”

He shakes his head.

“Good, good...” But she’ll be coming home to debris instead of home. Not good. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to—”

The door downstairs opens, and someone calls out, “Grandpa?!”

Darkwing’s eyes widen. He darts downstairs and nearly collides with a young gosling. She has yellow-grey feathers, green eyes, and fiery red hair.

It  _ would _ be about the time kids would be going home from school.

“Who are you?!”

“I’m Darkwing Duck. I was here trying to help your grandpa when—”

Gosalyn—that’s who Darkwing assumes she is—pushes past him and runs upstairs.

“Wait!” he calls, running after her.

“Grandpa!”

You’re not supposed to go into burning buildings; Darkwing knows that much. He knows it’s also probably very traumatizing for little girls to run into burning buildings and find their grandfathers passed out in the middle of them.

She’s trying to pick him up. Darkwing runs forward and helps. They’re on each side of the limp professor.

The professor’s body.

They’re carrying a body downstairs, and Gosalyn isn’t in the right mindset to admit it.

They put him down, gingerly, on the couch downstairs. Gosalyn doubles over in a coughing fit, and Darkwing pats her back frantically.

The coughing fit turns into an emotional breakdown.

Darkwing doesn’t know what to do. Quietly, he puts an arm around her.

“I’m going to call the police,” he murmurs.

She barely registers the comment.

From then, he’s not sure what to do. He acts as a concerned citizen who noticed the explosion of the building—like everyone else on the block, many of whom have already called—and then waits in the living room.

Superheroes aren’t supposed to talk to the police. In shows, the police already hate them. Gizmoduck can talk to the police, but that’s because his mom is one of them.

So he leaves, even if it makes him feel extremely guilty.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knowing that Gosalyn is probably in the city's orphanage by now, Drake tries to see if he can check on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i always forget to mark works as having multiple chapters!!

“A supervillain claiming to be ‘Negaduck’ was spotted allegedly trying to rob a bank this morning,” the news reporter says. Her voice is over footage of the bank with various people walking in and out of it.

Drake chokes and nearly drops the cup of coffee he’s filling. He catches it, winces at the small splatter of hot coffee on his hands, and gets back to work.

“Wow, that’s certainly a concerning thing,” Fenton says, struggling with his “concerned citizen” act that Drake sees right through.

“I know. I, uh, heard he...well, he also tried to rob an inventor and ended up, y'know, blowing up his attic.”

"That's terrible. I sure do hope Gizmoduck just happens to figure out who that is and stops him."

“Well, I’m betting on Darkwing Duck,” Drake blurts out. He flinches. Yeah, he didn't mean to say that at all.

Fenton turns and looks at him. “What, the TV show character that Launchpad loves?”

“ _No_ , not the—” Drake stops himself. Huffs. Explains, “He’s a new masked vigilante who showed up recently. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of him yet, being such an...enthusiast yourself.”

“Oh, that’s interesting.” Fenton perks up excitedly. Grinning, he says, "You know what? I'm sure that Gizmoduck would love the extra help with all of Duckburg's villains. Hypothetically speaking, of course."

"Yeah, sure..." At least Drake doesn't have to worry about starting up a rivalry with Gizmoduck; he'll just have to devote extra attention to not spilling his secret identity. He puts a lid on the coffee cup and slides it over the counter. "Well, I don't have to call out your name since you decided to wait right at the counter. So here you go, one coffee."

Fenton grins nervously as he picks up the coffee cup. “Right. Right. Thank you.”

“Have a nice day, and thank you for coming to Starducks.”

Drake really doesn’t like his job, now that he thinks about it.

*

Negaduck disappears from the scene of the bank robbery just as he did in the lab and at McDuck Studios.

So instead of worrying about him, Drake worries about Gosalyn.

He enters Duckburg’s Orphanage as himself and heads up to the front desk.

“Hi, I have a weird question.”

The dog at the desk looks up. “What is it?”

“Say I knew this kid, and I think her legal guardian died fairly recently. Would I be able to check if she’s here?”

“Do you know her name?”

“Gosalyn...” Drake hesitates. “Gosalyn.”

The dog sighs. “Yes, we have a few little girls named Gosalyn here. It used to be a very common name, so unless you have a surname, we're probably not going to be able to find her.”

“She would have come here within the last, I dunno, three days,” Drake says, tapping his fingers nervously against the desk. “Does that help?”

The dog sighs. “There is one girl. Let me get Mrs. Kavanaugh, though.”

Mrs. Kavanaugh is an elderly goose who runs the orphanage. She immediately takes Drake into her office.

“You knew Gosalyn Waddlemeyer?” she asks as she closes the door to her office. “Or was it just her grandfather, Professor Waddlemeyer?”

“I...worked with him. Briefly.” That’s an understatement.

“Oh, my. Well, I’m sorry for your loss. It was a horrible accident, what happened at the lab...”

“Yeah, um...the kid, Gosalyn. How’s she doing?”

“Well, she’s understandably bothered by the situation. Won’t stop talking about superheroes, either.”

“Ha. Weird. Where did that come from?”

Mrs. Kavanaugh frowns, confused at Drake’s response. He breaks out into a nervous sweat.

“Um, could I...Is there a way I could talk to Gosalyn? Just to check on her?”

“Well, I’ll see. She’s been a little down in the dumps lately and doesn’t want to talk to a lot of people. Maybe she’ll be more open to conversation if she knows that you knew her grandfather, though. Wait right here.”

Drake doesn’t have time to come up with an excuse to get her _not_ to mention that before she leaves the room and closes the door after herself.

Oh, boy.

Drake roams the office while waiting nervously for Mrs. Kavanaugh’s return. There’s hardly anything of note. She has a few pictures of herself with some of the kids, presumably ones here, but none of them are Gosalyn. There are a variety of informational books on child psychology and a variety of cabinets of paperwork that Drake is tempted to nosily rifle through.

He jumps when the door opens up. Mrs. Kavanaugh pokes her head in.

“Mr. Mallard?”

Drake steps forward. “Yes?”

She opens up the doorway. “Gosalyn, meet Drake Mallard. Mr. Mallard, this is Gosalyn Waddlemeyer.”

Gosalyn fixes a harsh glare up at him. She looks tired; Drake isn’t sure if that’s new or if he just didn’t notice from the panic of their first meeting, if it can even be called that.

“Hi, Gosalyn. Nice to meet you.”

At this, her gaze softens, but she’s still not sure what to think about the duck. She watches him calculatingly as he turns away from her and talks to Mrs. Kavanaugh.

“Uh, could we go on a walk or something and talk? I wouldn’t want to...take up your office or...”

Mrs. Kavanaugh checks her watch. “I suppose that’s alright. There’s a whole playground out in the back of the orphanage. Just be sure to be back before twelve—that’s lunch.”

“Got it,” Drake says with a nod.

They walk out of the room together. Gosalyn keeps a safe distance.

“Mrs. Kavanaugh said you knew my grandpa,” Gosalyn says. Her statement is actually a question: _What do you want from me?_

Drake ducks his head as he walks out to the back of the orphanage. It's chilly, so there isn't anyone outside. Drake heads out a little farther from the building, lest someone inside eavesdrop.

“It’s a little bit of an exaggeration to say I ‘knew’ him,” Drake admits. “Um...he was in an explosion when someone was trying to steal some of his...inventions, right?”

Gosalyn scowls, her beak tight with a frown. “Yeah. Why?”

The venom in her tone makes him nervous, but he can’t really back out now. The worst part about it is that he doesn’t know how secret identity reveals are supposed to go; the original Darkwing Duck never had any.

Facing away from the building, he takes the purple mask out of his pocket and holds it up for her to see. "I was there. I was trying to stop the robbery."

Gosalyn looks up at him. "No one believed me when I said a superhero came in to call the cops."

“I’m sorry I left. I wasn’t sure if...” He swallows and puts the mask away. “The guy who tried to steal the inventions, and who caused the explosion, is called Negaduck. I think...I think that I’m why he’s a supervillain now, so...I’m really sorry.”

Her face twists with sadness. “You didn’t do it. I just miss Grandpa...”

Drake walks over to a bench and sits down. “Why don’t you tell me more about your grandfather? What would he do that would attract a villain like Negaduck?”

“He made weapons.” Gosalyn sits down next to him. “And other things, too, but he had to make a lot of weapons because that’s what everyone would buy, and he was really good at it.”

“I wonder what...Negaduck was trying to do with them...”

“He’s a supervillain, isn’t he? He probably wants to rob banks, like in TV shows.”

That _is_ one of the most common motivations of _Darkwing Duck_ villains, and Negaduck likes going by the book in regards to that show. (Drake hasn’t seen him go after light bulbs or old toys, but if such larceny did begin to occur, he would know who to suspect immediately.)

“You know what? I still think he wants to kill me, and he probably needs money to do that, right?”

Gosalyn looks up and innocently asks, “Why does Negaduck want to kill you?”

“Oh, boy. That’s a long story, kiddo.”

She swings her legs back and forth. “We have a lot of time before I have to go for lunch.”

Drake checks his watch. She’s right. Anyway, it's not that long; he had just been trying to get out of talking about it.

“I used to be an actor,” Drake explains. “I was going to be in a movie of this...” He can’t say old. He’s only thirty! “...This show from when I was a kid, _Darkwing Duck_. It was a superhero show, starring Jim Starling as Darkwing Duck. He was...uh, he was angry that I was playing Darkwing in the new movie, so he attacked me.”

“That’s overkill,” Gosalyn says.

“I know.” He doesn’t want to go into detail about how he thought Jim was dead or how many sleepless nights he spent worrying that he killed his idol—after his idol tried to kill _him_ , mind you. “The...What he did to Professor Waddlemeyer, that didn’t have anything to do with me. So I have to figure out what he’s trying to do there.”

“Keen gear!” Gosalyn exclaims. “This is just like superhero cartoons I used to watch with...”

Drake winces, understanding the meaning. “Well, I hope I can do your grandfather some sort of justice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so y'all have read the theories that drake already knows who gizmoduck is, right? (that's why he was immediately like "i AM better than gizmoduck...") anyway, one of the people on fenton's list of "people who know i'm gizmoduck" was "the dry cleaner", which i thought would be funny if it were him, but frankly, "starducks barista" was more fun to write


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake likes visiting Gosalyn; unfortunately, Negaduck also likes robbing banks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> overnight i got so many hits, kudos, comments! idk HOW the heck that happened but thank you so much, y'all!

Drake visits the orphanage again the next day.

As it turns out, it’s not too odd for people to visit the children there, though usually they’re there when considering adoption and not for superhero drama reasons.

Gosalyn walks out with him to the same bench they talked at on the first day.

“Grandpa was my only family,” Gosalyn explains. “I didn’t even know my parents ‘cause they died before I could remember them, and apparently Ma didn’t talk to her family a lot, so it was just me and Grandpa...But I loved living in his lab, and...” She looks down at her clenched fists in her lap. Taking a deep breath, she says, “I’m not a problem child. It’s just that Grandpa was the only one who understood me.”

Drake smiles sadly. “Gosalyn, you don’t seem like a troublemaker to me. Looks like you just have a lot of spirit.”

“Spirit?!” Gosalyn cires. She throws her arms around Drake and squeezes tightly enough to take the breath right out of him. “That’s what Grandpa always said, that I have a lot of spirit and that it makes everyone else have a hard time understanding me!”

The tightness in Drake’s chest have nothing to do with her hug; his heart genuinely breaks for the girl.

With a smile he hopes will prevent him from crying, he puts an arm around her. “Gosalyn, I think...” Something on the other side of the street catches his gaze, distracting him entirely.

“I think Negaduck is going to try to rob another building.”

Gosalyn gasps and jumps to her feet. Standing on the bench, she can see on the other side of the street a masked figure sprinting with a chainsaw slung dangerously over his back.

“Keen gear, is that really him?!”

Drake stands and ruffles her hair. “Well, Gos, I better go and stop him.”

She catches his arm. “I’m going with you.”

It doesn’t take any experience with childcare for Drake to know that this is a bad idea. “I know you probably have a score to settle with him, but—”

“What if you need help?” Gosalyn presses. “Besides, what am I supposed to do here all alone while I’m waiting for you to come back? What if you _never_ come back?”

Drake winces. “If I say ‘no’, are you going to follow me anyway?”

Gosalyn puts her hands behind her back and grins sheepishly. “ _Well_...”

Drake sighs. He doesn’t have enough time to argue with her right now.

“You have to stay close to me, and if I tell you to leave, I want you to run  _right_ back here and get Mrs. Kavanaugh to call the cops. _No_ arguments.”

“Got it!”

Drake ducks behind the nearest tree and, in a few seconds, emerges in his Darkwing Duck costume.

Gosalyn bounces up and down excitedly. “Keen gear!”

“Remember,” he whispers, “it’s not Mr. Mallard. It’s Darkwing Duck.”

Darkwing takes her hand and leads her out of the orphanage.

“I hope we don’t get in trouble for this,” Darkwing murmurs. The last thing he needs is a kidnapping charge.

“Mrs. Kavanaugh will probably just think I tried to run away again.”

“Again?” Darkwing asks.

“Um...well, I made a friend on the first day I was here, but then on the fourth day he was adopted. I tried to go find him since I didn’t even get his phone number.”

“Oh, I’m...sorry.”

Gosalyn shrugs it off. If she thinks about it for too long, she’ll start crying, which she doesn’t want to do. Distracting herself, she asks, “Is Negaduck gonna be your arch nemesis?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Darkwing says. He can’t even find the guy right now. “Why?”

“Every superhero has an arch nemesis.”

“I dunno. I don’t think Gizmoduck has one.”

“Maybe he does, and we don’t know who it is since he fights people inside a lot,” Gosalyn says. “Anyway, he’s not very professional! One time Grandpa took me to Dr. Gearloose’s lab ‘cause they were talking, and Gizmoduck threw a _pie_ at me! On accident, and he apologized, but _still_.”

Darkwing snickers. He’ll have to bring that up to Fenton next time he comes into Starducks when it’s not busy.

The joy is short-lived as Darkwing spots Negaduck forcing his way into a bank. Darkwing ducks behind a wall, then tugs Gosalyn in after him.

“We’ll have to find a way inside,” Darkwing whispers.

“The front door?”

“Well, that’s not much of a dramatic entrance, but then Negaduck will have a harder time escaping.” He grabs Gosalyn by the shoulders. “I want you to stay by my side. Negaduck had a chainsaw with him, and let me tell you, you do _not_ want to be on the other end of his chainsaw when he’s in a bad mood.”

“Did you learn this from experience?”

“Yeah, right before the whole movie got canceled. C’mon.”

A burst of purple smoke appears at the front door and begins spreading through the bank.

“I am the terror that flaps through the night.”

A few people who were in the bank cry out in panic, and Negaduck turns angrily against the billowing cloud of smoke.

“I am the movie that gets canceled on the last scene...” The smoke clears, revealing the pair at the doorway. “I am Darkwing Duck!”

“Keen gear,” Gosalyn whispers.

“Who the hell is that?” Negaduck asks, pointing the chainsaw at Gosalyn, though not in a threatening way.

Darkwing claps a hand over her beak before she can respond. Whipping out his gas gun, he says, “I’m not letting you get away with this, Negaduck!”

“Huh, shame. I thought this would be an easy robbery since no one does it in broad daylight.” He revs up his chainsaw a little too casually. “Not that I’ll complain about getting another chance to fight you.”

Before Darkwing can even call out a “yikes!” the chainsaw is on him. He pushes Gosalyn out of the way before dodging the chainsaw himself.

Negaduck slashes wildly, but it’s clear he has no real plan other than “kill bad man”, so Darkwing could just run around for a bit and wear him out, no fighting necessary.

But Gosalyn doesn’t wait around that long.

She throws open the doors and shouts, “Everyone, get out of here while you can!”

As the mass exodus is under way, she sprints towards Negaduck, who has Darkwing hanging atop a potted fake plant that tips dangerously under his weight.

She tackles him.

Darkwing screams, but Negaduck drops the chainsaw to pry Gosalyn’s arms off of his neck.

“Darkwing!” she shouts as she frantically keeps her grip on Negaduck.

Darkwing jumps down and kicks the chainsaw away. Then he runs forward and punches Negaduck in the face.

He stumbles back, and Gosalyn jumps off of him in case he falls on top of her. But he doesn’t; he catches himself and gets up. Gosalyn, to him, is nothing right now; he really only wants Darkwing Duck at this point. He cries out angrily, not any particular words, and launches himself at Darkwing, who dodges just in time for Negaduck to hit the wall.

“Ha!”

“Ha, yourself!” Negaduck snaps, landing and finding the chainsaw again.

“Oh boy.”

Darkwing runs to Gosalyn without thinking. Shielding her, he glares at Negaduck and dares him to back down.

Which he doesn’t.

Darkwing dodges a slash of the chainsaw and scoops up Gosalyn.

“Don’t tell me you’re _scared_ , Deadbeat Duck! A _real_ Darkwing isn’t afraid of _anything_ , right?”

“Let me go, I can _handle_ this!” Gosalyn hisses angrily.

She jumps out of Darkwing’s grip and sprints towards Negaduck.

“Gosalyn, no!”

She swiftly dodges a swing of his chainsaw—he isn’t thinking, why would he want to hurt her, why did Darkwing let her get out of his grip—and kicks at his leg. This causes him to stumble.

Taking advantage of it, Darkwing launches himself at Negaduck with a flying kick. It lands, Darkwing’s flipper connecting with Negaduck’s beak. The supervillain topples to the ground, with Darkwing standing over him.

Then the police burst into the scene.

“And that’s our cue to leave,” Darkwing whispers as he scoops Gosalyn up once more and disappears into another puff of purple smoke.

*

Drake hesitates at the gate of the mansion, but when he says he’s there for Launchpad, he’s let inside immediately.

Launchpad runs out to the front lawn, which is actually a startling distance.

“DW, you’re here! That’s great ‘cause I was actually just about to head to your place.”

“Yeah, we need to talk about something.”

“I’ll take you to my space,” Launchpad says, turning around and heading back to the side of the mansion. “Have you heard of the new supervillain?”

“Negaduck, yeah. I actually fought him.”

“No way. How’d that go? Why’s he dressed up like Darkwing Duck?”

“Uh, Launchpad...” Sighing, Drake puts a hand on his arm. “Jim Starling didn’t die in the explosion.”

Launchpad freezes.

“I know. He, well, he became ‘Negaduck’. I don’t know _why_. I think he, well, still wants to make me not alive anymore, you know?”

“Wh—I—I don’t know what to think. Mr. Starling...” Launchpad turns and looks at Drake. “That isn’t Mr. Starling.”

“I know. He’s not acting like himself, _or_ like Darkwing Duck.”

Launchpad turns around and puts his back against the wall. Sinks a little. “I don’t know which is worse—Mr. Starling being dead, or Mr. Starling being a supervillain.”

Drake nods. His frown tightens. “We have to stop him.”

“Maybe we can talk some sense into him,” Launchpad agrees. “If we could just...I don’t know, show him that he doesn’t have to be a bad guy...”

“I just hope he’s willing to listen.” An idea strikes him; Drake looks up at Launchpad with wide eyes. “Say, Launchpad, you’re his biggest fan. And he doesn’t want to kill you. Maybe he’d be more willing to listen to you.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, why not?”

Launchpad grins. “Then I guess I'll be helping you fight crimes, DW!”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Drake says, unable to help himself from smiling, too. “Hey, there’s something else. Can we go inside?”

“Oh, right.” Launchpad laughs nervously as he pushes himself up from the wall. “I got so distracted about Mr. Starling that I forgot we were going in.”

They enter Launchpad’s room, which is actually the garage. Drake steps nervously past the limo— it already looks a little beat up, and he does _not_ want to worsen it— and follows Launchpad towards his room, which is decked out in enough _Darkwing Duck_ merchandise to make Drake nerd out and almost forget that Jim Starling still hates him.

Almost.

They sit down on a worn couch that sinks under their weight; Drake finds it comfortable. He puts his hands on his stomach and looks around, making eye contact with an autographed picture of Darkwing Duck. It’s the one Drake signed.

“When I fought Negaduck,” Drake says, tearing his gaze from the poster, “he was at an inventor’s laboratory, trying to get some of the weapons he made. The place blew up, and the inventor died. But, here’s the thing. He left behind a granddaughter.”

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. I’ve talked to her a few times. She knows I’m Darkwing Duck. I think I could...Launchpad, I think I want to adopt her.”

Launchpad perks up. “No way!”

“I took her when I was trying to stop Negaduck from robbing a bank. Is that dangerous?”

“Crime-fighting always is.”

“I know, but maybe I shouldn’t be bringing a kid...Well, she handled herself pretty well, actually...”

Launchpad shrugs it off. “Mr. McDee takes the kids with him on adventures all the time. He just makes sure they don’t get hurt, and that they’re okay after.”

“Scrooge has kids?”

“Eh, sorta. Let’s see, there are the nephews, and Webby Vanderquack, the housekeeper’s granddaughter. Also Lena, I’m not sure how she’s related, but she’s here. A lot.” Launchpad snaps his fingers. “Maybe the kid could be friends with these kids! I’m sure she’d like them. They’re good kids.”

“I guess I’ll...have to talk to her about that. Thanks, Launchpad.”

"No problemo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. originally, the discussion on gizmoduck was me being like "ya gizmoduck doesn't HAVE an arch nemesis" because apparently i hate mark beaks so much that i just forgot he existed? anyway last night i watched "the dangerous chemistry of gandra dee" and (a) remembered that yeah, mark beaks is probably his arch nemesis and (b) somehow began to hate mark beaks even MORE
> 
> 2\. one of my favorite darkwing & negaduck moments was when darkwing had a safe thrown on him and went in it, then jumped out like "HA!" and negaduck just threw a bomb at him and went "ha, yourself!" another favorite part was when negaduck tried to do a flying kick but darkwing ducked, causing negaduck to hit the wall, bounce off, and fall down a spiral staircase.
> 
> 3\. it's not legal to take orphans out of the orphanage to stop a bank robbery with them but hey, gos is a kid! she's supposed to cause trouble!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Negaduck in jail, Drake can focus more of his attention on the adoption process.

There are a lot of things that go into adoption, things that Drake never knew about. He has to send in a number of forms, and that’s just to get a social worker to come and check out his apartment to make sure it’s a healthy environment to live in.

There’s an extra bedroom for Drake’s old roommate who moved out a year ago after getting married. Drake was about to consider downsizing, but now that’s out of the picture.

The social worker doesn’t say much about it, but she seems pretty cheery, so Drake considers that a good sign.

With all the variables that go into this, he’s worried something could go wrong. He’s not exactly rich, and his second job is a dangerous one. What would happen if the people at the adoption agency are really transphobic? Or if he gets really hurt from crime-fighting (or a coffee burn)? And he’s going back into acting, or hoping to, so what if that affects something?

Luckily, Launchpad is there to help him. And, by extension, Scrooge McDuck, sort of.

“Nice goin’, DW,” Launchpad says, holding out his phone. “Negaduck got arrested!”

Drake checks the news story on the phone. Sure enough, the police were able to apprehend him after the bank robbery from the other day.

This isn’t one less thing to worry about, but rather an old concern being replaced with a new one.

“What if Negaduck escapes?” Drake asks, handing the phone back.

“I guess we’ll have to keep an eye on him, eh, DW?”

“I, uh...can’t,” Drake admits, almost sheepish by the confession. “This whole adoption thing, I really have to focus on it for a bit.”

“Oh, right...” Perking up, Launchpad offers, “I could do it on my own. That’s what sidekicks are for, right?”

Sidekick. Drake grins. “‘Partner’ feels more correct, you know.”

“I’m going to faint.”

Drake grabs his arm. “Launchpad?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m Darkwing Duck’s partner! This is so exciting. Don’t worry, DW, I’ll make sure Negaduck doesn’t get out of jail. And if he does, well, I’ll stop him.”

“One more thing, LP.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh, if they’re looking into my past to see if I’d be a good parent, then I might need Mr. McDuck to explain why I wasn’t responsible for the fire at his studio...”

“Got it, DW. I’m sure he’ll be willing to help.”

*

It’s a bad time for his phone to ring, as he’s waiting at the front of the orphanage, but once he sees who it is, he answers immediately.

Gosalyn walks out and right up to him. “Hi, Mr. Mallard.”

He puts his phone down on his shoulder. “Hang on a minute, Gos.”

Gosalyn frowns as he turns away and finishes up the call with a “thank you” and a “have a nice day”. Then he puts the phone into his pocket.

“Who was that?”

“Uh...just someone.”

Gosalyn raises a suspicious eyebrow at him. “How come you keep coming to visit me?”

Drake isn’t sure if the question is as innocent as it sounds. Suddenly self-conscious, he asks, “You don’t mind, do you?”

Gosalyn shakes her head no. "I was just wondering."

"Well, I...like hanging out with you, you know. Uh, we'll talk more once we get outside."

They head out to their usual spot in the back of the orphanage. There are a few outside playing, but they keep a safe distance, allowing for the pair to talk comfortably without the fear of eavesdroppers.

“Gosalyn, I’ve been thinking,” Drake says.

Gosalyn grins excitedly. “Ooh, is this about that Negaduck guy? Did he get out of prison? I heard on the news that he went to jail.”

“No, no! Kiddo, I haven’t had much time to look into that case myself. Um, Gosalyn. Why don’t you sit down?”

Gosalyn sits and begins swinging her legs while impatiently waiting for Drake to come up with a way to say what he’s thinking.

“Just say it,” Gosalyn says. “Grandpa didn’t sugarcoat things.”

Drake looks over at her. “What would you think about getting adopted?”

Her eyes go wide.

“That person I was on the phone with was a social worker,” Drake says. “She said she was going to look at the kids in the orphanages around here and try to match me up with someone, but...well, I already know you.”

Gosalyn throws her arms around him. “Cool beans, I could be your sidekick! Oh, I gotta get a costume and a name and—”

“I don’t know about that,” is Drake’s way of saying “no”. “Crime-fighting is still pretty dangerous, and I don’t think a social worker would take too kindly to me telling them I adopted a kid and then sicced her on a supervillain.”

“Well, you don’t have to _tell_ them.”

“They don’t take kindly to lying, either.” Drake puts his arms around her. “I wasn’t planning to adopt you as a sidekick, Gosalyn. I want to adopt you as a daughter.”

At that, Gosalyn grins and hugs him even tighter. “Okay, Mr. Mallard!”

*

His shift over, Drake takes off his apron and hangs it up. He shoves his visor into the back pocket of his khakis as he heads out the back of the Starducks. Then his phone begins ringing.

Leaning against the wall, he checks the screen and answers it. “Yes, LP, what’s up?”

“Negaduck escaped from jail,” Launchpad says. He’s breathless. “I tried to follow him, but he disappeared.”

“Lemme guess, a well-placed puff of purple smoke?”

“Red, actually,” Launchpad responds, and it almost sounds like he’s joking. The edge to his voice shows his nervousness about the situation. “DW, I don’t like this. Mr. Starling is freaking me out.”

“So it’s not just me?”

“He gives me the creepy crawlies.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No, but he didn’t want to talk to me, either.”

“That’s not a good sign...”

Launchpad’s sigh crackles through the speaker. “I dunno, DW. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do about this.”

“Me neither. And it doesn’t help that I’ve been pretty busy lately.”

“How’s the adoption going?”

“Well, Gos is all for it, and it’s actually not...as difficult as I thought it would be at the beginning of it.” Drake sighs and leans against the wall. “If this whole thing with Negaduck gets too big, we might just have to call—oh, hang on. I’ll call you back, LP.”

Fenton smiles awkwardly as he lugs his duffel bag with him. “Uh...hi. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

"I just got off my shift," Drake says. "What is it this time, another rogue weatherman?"

"No, Mark Beaks, actually."

"Oh, gross," Drake says, hiding his Waddle Watch behind his back. The technology is good, but he also remembers some of the billionaire's schemes that went more public, none of which were pleasant to view. Pushing himself up from the wall, Drake says, "I should be getting home. Have fun throwing pies at billionaires."

"Alright. Thanks. I, I think?"

Drake waves and walks away, barely flinching at the sound of Gizmoduck flying off mere seconds later. He's not exactly looking for a partnership with Gizmoduck, but there  _is_ a strange sense of relief in knowing that's a possibility, should it ever come to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the sake of this fic i looked into adoption a lil bit and HOLY MOLY. i don't know how 1991!darkwing did it, having only re-established his secret identity just before adopting gos. then again, i guess that's cartoon logic for you. or SHUSH interference; i read a theory about that somewhere...


End file.
